


A Soldier's Spirit

by cozy_tea



Category: The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: Cuz I never liked the idea of Sheik just being Zelda the entire time, Gen, OoT Spoilers, Other, just a sheik story, so here have a compromise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:21:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22090987
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cozy_tea/pseuds/cozy_tea
Summary: Sheik insists on being the one working, as he was the one who would be able to craft the best performance of compliance and leave the princess’ hands clean of the blood that would need to be shed.
Kudos: 4





	A Soldier's Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> I hope to find other likewise minds with this story. So, hope you enjoy my mess of a Sheik interpretation lmao.

Sheik was a soldier.

He had been since the day he was born. But, this? He wasn’t prepared for this. Sheik had been told, day after day, he would _die_ for the heirs to Hyrule. To her Lady Hylia. Would serve them till his spirit would follow those tormented souls that became lost.

So it was a surprise to him, brought forth from the either, to stare at this new body.

It was soft. Malleable. It didn’t _suit him_ at all. It was not a soldier’s body, nor a spy’s body. A princess’s body. He ran fingers along its soft edges, took up his new blond hair and tied it back. She must’ve been no more than twelve.

Why she had ever thought to use him, Sheik never knew. But he kept her quiet, secret. Training her body from that day forward. Until she was just as flexible, just as fast, just as _good_.

When they attained that, it only followed she wanted to push her way in front sometimes. So his soul lifted. Never entirely. But he’d trained her, ghosting, how to pull back her womanhood, what potions to take would ease pain and burden of a maiden, and how to walk and present herself as a man.

It wasn’t easy, and the day she decided she was ready? They were barely sixteen. Walking up the steps of a ruined castle and Sheik nearly _shook_ with rage. The years he had spent in this Castletown, the life he lived serving this town, keeping it safe from intruders, erased.

Soft, the voice of the young girl, whispered gently they would _make it better_.

So Sheik believed her. Settled, and helped her as they walked through to the castle’s gates. It took a little ingenuity, but quickly enough between magic and strength, the princess warrior made their way across a mote and to the king’s door.

Where they stood.

And they waited.

Brought inside to the throne room was tortuous for the both of them. The princess, because she stared down the man who had butchered her father. The sheikah, because it was the crown’s enemy. But, between both of them, Sheik’s smooth voice, deep and calm and emotionless, and the princess’ brain, clever, witty and a touch dry, they made their way beyond the faux king’s gaze.

It was from there, they plotted.

Plotted a way around the king, a way to kill him, to retrieve the hero from his slumber, lead him towards the sages, and at the end, fix this mess of a world it has become.

Sheik insists on being the one working, as he was the one who would be able to craft the best performance of compliance and leave the princess’s hands _clean_ of the blood that would need to be shed.

( There would be no way the King would take a Sheikah into his ranks and not _test them_. )

He does test them. Sheik brings bad news. Breaks into hideouts. Captures innocents and drags them to the king. Oftentimes, he is also the one who helps them escape, but he makes certain it is clear where his alliance stands to King.

Always protect the princess.

It was always for her.

At least...until _he_ showed up.

The hero of time, Sheik never believed he would live to see Hylia’s chosen. Sheikah knew of him, how could he not? He’s read story after story about the hero. It was a surprise to see how he reacted, then. Quiet, pulled back, nervous. Sheik had thought him a great warrior.

But he acted like a child.

Their hope relied on a _child_.

The princess insisted he would do it. He did, for her credit. He hated seeing the end results, however. As the princess’ emotions turned to delight, Sheik’s stomach churned. Irritated.

So, on some nights, when he was the only occupant of the mind, princess asleep. He would visit the hero. He learned so many new things. The world he lived in now, the type of child the hero was. How he was now growing up far too fast, even for someone who was a hero.

Sheik did it again and again and again. Night after night. Not all at once, but spread out between them so he might sit with him and talk. Learn more. Listen more. He never divulges much about himself, other than the few things he did in this body.

The people he’s saved. The few he’s helped.

It was … nice.

To talk about.

The gentleness in the boy’s expression as Sheik elaborated on saving the farmhands stable a few years back. The understanding wince as he talked about the Zora princess.

He spoke only once about the horror he’s done. It was the princess who saved him from admitting more. Woken up by sudden lurching guilt in emotion.

The princess took control after that night.

She didn’t visit the hero often.

Keeping their visits short, quick. Sheik often only was allowed to approach now when he shared a tune, giving soft advice. His voice warbling, and he can see hero looking confused before another serenade is given. And Sheik backs away.

The princess back in charge.

He wanted out, now. Not from helping, not from saving the world or the heir, but. So he might stay, here, after it’s all done.

It’s a quiet night, that evening. Pouring over scrolls and books together. Trading places as they search. (Look on, as if they might find an answer in these pages.) But there is none. There is no way out, not for the Sheikah. Not that he might live as they do. He was a spirit, and once what he was called to do was done…

He would leave. Cease to exist on this plane.

So he spent a long time, quiet, thinking about what he wanted. What he wanted his last night to be. The time was coming so soon. It had been _near a year_ since the hero’s quest first started, and he was about to end it.

He simply needed the last sage. He was going to the temple of time.

Sheik made his decision.

Taking control of princess, with permission. He took hero’s hand and lead him away. Far away, off to the desert mountains and sat with him. He would talk, now. He wasn’t pulling away or shrinking back. Instead he sat, smiling loopily at the stars.

Far too much like a puppy, Sheik decided.

Sitting beside the hero that night, Sheik opened up. Talking about his past. His life, in those very sands. His training, how he grew up. The sweat on his back and how he used to be whipped whenever he could not complete his training. The memory of words, burnt hard into him of being the _defenders_ of hyrule’s royalty.

The admittance he didn’t think he would be able to do that anymore.

And when he was asked why?

It’s a sad smile behind a cowl. Staring up at those stars. And he says, they’ve changed a lot over the years.

Sheik spent the last moments of his with a friend, before he walked back with him to the temple of time, and, by the moment he got there. He was already fading.

The princess was the one to speak to him.

And he could see the hurt and surprise in the hero’s eyes. (Thought betrayed by such convincing little lies as the night before.)

And he’s gone with a bright light, back into the eether.

He never had a friend like that before.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel I need to note, I adore warrior fem! sheik who is also Zelda. Don't get me wrong! I just. Also like the idea of Sheik being his own person. Might make something more out of this?
> 
> Maybe one shots of specific scenes instead of this overview.
> 
> We'll see!


End file.
